That stabbing glare you feel isn’t just “getting older” or “people being rude with their high beams.” Modern LED and HID headlights pack more focused, bluish-white light that scatters aggressively in rain, fog, scratched windshields, and tired eyes. Add taller SUVs, lifted trucks, and countless cars with misaligned lamps, and you get light aimed straight into pupils already widened by darkness, briefly washing out the very contrast you need to stay in control.

But you’re far from powerless. A simple headlight-aim check at a garage can transform both what you see and what you inflict on others. Use your car’s manual leveling wheel when carrying passengers or luggage. Clean the inside of your windshield, where invisible film amplifies halos. At night, shift your gaze slightly right, using the lane edge as your anchor instead of staring into oncoming beams. As adaptive, auto-dimming headlights spread, the worst glare will ease—but until then, a few quiet adjustments can turn white-knuckled night drives back into something steady, predictable, and safe.